Helical rolls for rolling metal.



No. "797,221. 'PATENTED AUG.15, 1905.

F. L. L w. L. BEIGE. HELIGAL ROLLS FOL ROLLING METAL,

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28,1904.

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Nb. 797,221. PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905. F. L. & W. L. PRICE. HELIGAL ROLLS FOR ROLLING METAL.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 28.1904.

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WITNESSES INVENTOBQ A TTORNE).

PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

F. L (in W. Lu PRIGEW HELIGAL ROLLS FOR ROLLING METAL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1904.

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PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

F. L 6; W. L. PRICE.

HELIGAL ROLLS FOE ROLLING METAL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28,1904.

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Jdfle'mw 42 A rromim WITNESSES No. 797321. PATENTED AUG.15, 1905. F. L. @L W. L. PRICE. HELIUAL ROLLS FOR ROLLING METAL.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT. 28,1904.

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I ST OFFICE.

FRANK L. PRICE AND WILLIAM L. PRICE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MENU/ IL ROLLS FOR ROLLING METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1905.

Application filed September 28, 1904. Serial No. 226,290.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK L. Peron, residing at No. 731 Walnut street, and WILLIAM L. PRICE, residing at N01624: Walnut street, in the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in I-Ielical Rolls for Rolling Metal, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide rolls for rolling from blooms, billets, or other shapes bars of any cross-section and also for rolling tapering bars or bars whose cross-section varies from end to end.

Our more immediate object is to provide rolls as aforesaid for rolling switch-points in pairs, right and left.

Our invention comprises two sets or pairs of rolls, one set for the production of a righthand switch-point, the other set for the production of a left-hand switch-point. Each pair of rolls are constructed with matching grooves running spirally around the rolls and alternating with spiral flanges on one roll and complemental flange-receiving grooves on the other roll, the construction being such substantially, as hereinafter more particularly described and claimed,that metal may be rolled into irregular or tapering shapes from the bloom, billet, or blank. In operation the upper roll will impinge upon and bear against the lower roll, the metal passing through the rolls being compressed in the matching grooves, while the alternating spiral flanges and their coniplemental grooves maintain the rolls in alinement against the strain of the metal being rolled and likewise relieve the housings of the lateral strain imposed upon the rolls.

A particular feature of our invention is the division of the grooving of each pair of rolls into a plurality of passes or sections with means for entering and delivering the blank at each pass, whereby said blank is progressively formed and finished, as hereinafter more fully described.

W e have herein illustrated our invention as applied to the rolling of switch-points, without thereby limiting its application to that one use, and hence will proceed to describe our invention in detail, as thus illustrated, but without limitation as to its adaptability.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pair of rolls and housings therefor, but omitting the necessary gearing, which may be as usual. The pairof rolls shown in Fig. 1 are designed for rolling a right-hand switch-point. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a pair of rolls and housings there for, as in Fig. 1. This pair of rolls are in like manner designed for rolling a left-hand switch-point, a right and a left hand switchpoint making the necessary pair. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the housings for said sets of rolls. Fig. 4 is a. plan showing the mechanism for guiding and feeding the billet or blank into the rolls. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view, on a larger scale, of a portion of the profile of the two rolls. Fig. 7 is a side view with elevations of opposite ends, and. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a switch-rail in process of formation and as it would appear in emerging from the first pass of the rolls. Fig. 9 is a side elevation with end views of opposite ends, and Fig. 10 is a plan view showing the blank as it would appear at the completion of the second pass of the rolls. Fig. 11 is a side elevation with end views of opposite ends, and Fig. 12 is a plan view of the finished switch-points as it emerges from the final pass of the rolls.

We will now describe the pair of rolls shown in Fig. 1, those shown in Fig. 2 being identical in principle, save that the rolls in Fig. 1 form a right-hand switch-point, while those in Fig. 2 form a left-hand one. In Fig. 1 the rolls a and I) may be constructed in accordance with well-known practice and mounted in an appropriate manner in housings c c and suitable power-transmitting appliances used in connection therewith. The rolls a. 7) are finished with matching or reciprocating grooves (Z, formed vertically upon the rolls and alternating with spiral flanges e on one roll and complemental flange-receiving grooves f on the other roll. The formation of the blank takes place between the faces of the matching grooves (Z and the faces and sides of the spiral flanges 0. Reference has been made above to a particular feature of our invention n amely, the division of the grooving of the rolls into a plurality of sections or passes, with means for entering and delivering the blank at each section or pass. The character and object of such division are as follows: It has hitherto been impossible, for example, to roll and complete an eighteen-foot standard switch-point in one continuous pass or operation. e have therefore separated the grooving of the rolls into three passes by means of the stops g g and h A. Each pair of these stops is formed by two matching sections of the grooved surface of the rolls being filled in or blocked up in suchwise that the surfaces of said blocked up sections or stops meet and come to a bearing in the course of the rotation of the rolls. By referring to the pair of stops it h, which are on the side of the rolls nearest the eye, as shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that as the stops it 7L, meet in the rotation of the rolls a space measured by the conjoint depth of said stops is formed by them. This marks the beginning of a pass, and the blank is accordingly entered and rolled, moving at the same time in Fig. 1 from left to right until delivered at the termination of that pass. The first pass extends from the stops g g (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, because on the opposite side of the rolls from the passes h h) to the right-hand end of the rolls. The form into which the blank is rolled by the first pass is shown in Fig. 7 and 8. The blank thus partially formed is next presented to the rolls at the stops h h and rolled thence to the stops g 9, where it is again delivered. This constitutes the second pass, and the blank is thereby advanced toward completion to the form shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The third and final pass is from the commencement of the grooving at the left-hand end of the rolls to the cutoff t 21. This cut-off consists, as shown, of two meeting edges or jaws which clip or cut off the thin end of the finished switch-point, delivering the completed article, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. By this means switch-points instead of being produced, as heretofore, by planing or otherwise cutting the blank or rail, and thus exposing the interior of the metal, which is notoriously softer than the exterior or skin, may be rolled in the first instance and without any cutting or planing and with a complete hard skin on all exposed points and without any exposure of the inner and softer portion of the rail. The process of rolling likewise produces a harder and denser body to the switch-point, improving the quality not only of the surface, but of the entire mass of the rail or switch-point, giving great toughness to the thin end of the switchpoint, where that quality is greatly needed. The advantages of such a switch-point in point of durability are manifest, and, furthermore, these switch points may be produced very much more economically than by cutting or planing.

It will be observed that in describing the application of our invention to the manufaeturer of switch-points, we have stated that the blank or billet in its progress to completion is passed through the rolls three times. Inv

order to secure the insertion of the end of the blank between the rolls at the stops hereinabove described, and likewise to support and hold said blank in the proper position while being rolled, we employ the means shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4, j is a rotating worm provided with deep flanges and having its axis parallel to the axis of the rolls. K K K are rotating rollers or carriers furnishing a platform on which the billet or blank is moved toward the worm j in the usual manner. Between the worm and the carriers K K K" is located the gate Z, Fig. 5, actuated by the arm at, pivoted below the worm at n. The surfaces of the flanges of the roll 6, Fig. 1, carry the spuds 0 0 0, and the free end of the arm m, Fig. 5, is adapted to contact with said spuds 0 0 in the revolution of the roll. The spuds 0 0 are located at such a distance from the stops 9 and iurespectively, that the spuds contact with the end of the arm on, raising said end and depressing the gate Z, Fig. 5, allowing the billet p to be carried by the carriers K K K upon the worm j, and thence to the rolls at the proper instant to enter said rolls at the stops, or, in other words, at the beginning of a pass. The billet may be further carried on the farther side of the rolls as it emerges therefrom by any suitable means, such as the roller g. In order to still further hold the billet in position While passing through the worm, the frame r, Fig. 5, carries the cross piece or bar 8, which prevents the billet from rising or becoming vertically displaced while being rolled. Each pair of rolls'i. a, for rolling a right and a left hand switch-pointis furnished with the feed device above described, each worm having a direction of screw opposite to that of the pair of rolls which it feeds and of a length at least equal to that of its set of rolls. The rate of rotation of each worm must be such as to carry the billet laterally at precisely the rate at which said billet is moved laterally by the action of the rolls themselves.

lVhatwe claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pair of rolls having a helical pass of varying section between them, one end of 79mm. a

plennental surface in the groove, the large end of said pass belng initiated by a stop, and the small end of said pass being terminated by a cut-off device substantially as described.

In testnnony whereof We hereto afiix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK L. PRICE. WILLIAM L. PRICE.

Witnesses:

JOHN B. RUTHERFORD, H. B. SCHERMERHORN. 

